Gary Everett Gonzales' Obituary
The King. That’s the nickname Gary Everett Gonzales was given after he entered the world on January 24th, 1939.
Born to Alipio and Ramona Gonzales, the King was born and raised in Oakland, California, where he was adored by his parents and spoiled by his three older sisters.
Following graduation from Castlemont High School, Gary served his country on the Nerius submarine tender as a Chaplain’s Assistant in the U.S. Navy.
Gary joined the Navy excited for the opportunity to experience life outside of California. To his dismay, the Nerius never sailed further than fifty miles away from the San Diego bay where he was stationed.
The blessing that came from being “stuck” in San Diego was meeting the love of his life, Wanda Taylor, whom he married on Valentine’s Day, 1959.
Soon after they married, Gary returned to the Bay Area with Wanda where they settled down and eventually had three children.
As a young husband and father, Gary held several jobs which included selling life insurance for John Hancock and driving buses for AC Transit (which he considered to be one of his favorite career moves). However, his biggest professional accomplishment came when the Lord led him to become a State Farm Insurance Agent.
In high school, Gary was told by a counselor that he’d never succeed in life. In spite of barely graduating high school and with the odds against him, Gary built an honest and successful business from scratch. For forty-three years, he diligently strived to put his clients' needs above his own financial gain and earned the respect of those who knew him. In 2017, he retired one month short of his seventy-ninth birthday.
Throughout his life, Gary was a church youth leader, Sunday School Bible teacher to adults, church song leader, choir member and die-hard fan of the OAKLAND Raiders. He loved a perfectly barbecued baby back rib and was a voracious consumer of donuts and coffee.
Gary studied the Bible every day and not only taught what he learned, but lived what he taught. At one time, his collection of Bibles and books about the Bible filled two entire bookshelves.
Quick-witted and a teller of Henny Youngman jokes, Gary made people both young and old laugh. He was extremely generous and kind, wore his emotions on his sleeves, was a bit of a drama king and admitted he struggled with anger.
Gary was always fastidiously groomed and well-dressed. He said he never wanted to dress like an “old man” even when he became one. True to his word, he looked his best and made sure to have his nails trimmed during the last few days of his life.
He loved people and people loved him, but what Gary truly treasured most were his wife, his family, his grandchildren and Jesus. Nothing took precedence over those he loved.
On November 14th, 2023, he received the desire of his heart and was ushered into the presence of Jesus Christ, his Lord and Savior. Though we mourn our loss, we rejoice that he is exactly where he yearned to be - in the arms of the King of Kings.
Gary is survived by his daughter Mary Ann and son in-law Dan Wittman; son David Gonzalez; daughter Anna and son in-law Doug Matangelo; his precious grandchildren Taylor Wittman; Philip, Paul and Sam Gonzalez; Annalisa, Alyssa, Andrew, Abrielle and Aleena Matangelo; his long-time employee and acquired granddaughter, Ashley Mata; several nieces and a nephew.
He was preceded in death by Wanda, his wife of sixty years; his parents Alipio and Ramona Gonzales; sisters Irene Davis, Stella Baptista, Ramona Dodds; brothers-in-law Joey Baptista and Leal Dodds; nephews Paul Baptista, Phil Baptista and Ken King.
The family profusely thanks the staff of Piedmont Gardens for the love, kindness and care they lavished on Gary and his family during the last nine days of his life on earth. We are also grateful to Scott Mueller at Piedmont Gardens who was not only Gary’s friend, but provided spiritual comfort to Gary and the family.
At Gary’s insistence, there will be no services. Instead, in his honor, he wanted those who knew him to raise a donut or baby back rib in the air and quote one of his favorite verses, “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up on wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint,” (Isaiah 40:31).
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